The Magic Kingdom’s newest table service restaurant is touted as a can’t-miss experience, and Danny and I have been waiting for nearly a year to check it out. While reviews on the food tend to vary, everybody is wowed by the massive restaurant’s detailed atmosphere and decor. I’ll spare you my grainy, low-light photos of the ballroom, where we ate our meal, but will share some blurry shots of the food.

The napkins are folded to look like rosebuds.

We enjoyed the ballroom’s massive windows and chandeliers, and that the film’s theming even made it on to the table in the form of these “rose” napkins.

Bread Basket for the table.

We tucked in to the bread that came to the table and ordered drinks. These are the familiar dinner rolls that are found at a lot of restaurants on Disney property, especially in parks. I think we had the same rolls at Coral Reef just a few days later. They’re fine, and we were glad we had them when our appetizer came later.

Be Our Guest serves beer! And we drink it!

One of the biggest Disney fan “controversies” of the Be Our Guest restaurant is its liquor license. Before the restaurant opened, the Magic Kingdom was a completely dry park. Be Our Guest now serves beer and wine. We think this makes total sense, as I’ve never in my life been to a French restaurant that did not serve wine. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this policy gets ported to other restaurants in the park. Wine might make the food at Tony’s palatable. Maybe. Danny ordered the above Chimay Ale, and I had a glass of the Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvée. Both went well with our appetizer.

To start, we shared the Mussels Provençal, which our server said was a house favorite. They were easily the best thing we ate that night, though that’s kind of by default. They were nice and briny, but a little gritty as well. The buttery broth in which they were served was a good complement to the mussels, and tasty when sopped up with the dinner rolls.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Leek Fondue and Creamy Saffron Potatoes

Danny had the Pan-Seared Salmon with Leek Fondue for his entrée. As you can see from the above photo, it was overcooked. The potatoes were unremarkable, and the leek fondue lacked the oniony bite that Danny was hoping for.

I had the Sautéed Shrimp and Scallops, which our server said was the restaurant’s “specialty.” The scallops on the side were cooked perfectly, but the shrimp were a little overdone. The biggest disappointment was the alleged lobster sauce that accompanied the seafood. I couldn’t detect a flavor from it at all.

The Grey Stuff!

For dessert, we were going to order the new Grey Stuff Brownie, but our server told us that we were receiving a complimentary dab of the Grey Stuff as we were celebrating our wedding, which took place the night before. We skipped the brownie and had the above dollop instead. Be Our Guest has said in press releases that this dessert is a whipped panna cotta, but I really don’t think you can call it panna cotta anymore when you whip that lovely texture out of it. It tasted mostly like subtly-flavored whipped cream. Not bad, but I’m kind of glad we didn’t pay to have it on top of a brownie.

Danny’s assessment of the restaurant is pretty spot on: “It’s the best restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, but there’s still far better to be found outside the gates.” We know we didn’t exactly play it safe with all the seafood dishes, but when you live in a landlocked state like we do, you crave everything that comes from the ocean the second your feet touch down in Florida. It’s little wonder we end up spending so much of our time at Disney in places like the Coral Reef, the Flying Fish Café and bluezoo. Perhaps the next time we visit Be Our Guest, we’ll try some of the heartier crowd favorites and see how they stack up.